Young players step in to lead defense

Nov. 18, 2012

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Written by

Rob Demovsky

Green Bay Press-Gazette

Green Bay Packers cornerback Casey Hayward (29) is tackled by Detroit Lions tackle Gosder Cherilus (77) after making an interception in the second quarter during Sunday's game at Ford Field in Detroit. Evan Siegle/Press-Gazette

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DETROIT — Three of the biggest plays the Green Bay Packers made on defense Sunday against the Detroit Lions came from Casey Hayward, Dezman Moses and M.D. Jennings.

That’s a rookie second-round pick, an undrafted rookie and a second-year former undrafted free agent.

And those were the types of players who would have to produce for the Packers if they were going to win at Ford Field with their best defensive player, Clay Matthews, watching in street clothes because of the pulled left hamstring he sustained against the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 4.

“Well, it shows that they’re probably going to get rid me,” Matthews joked on his way out of the visitor’s locker room after Sunday’s 24-20 road NFC North victory.

If anything, it showed why defensive coordinator Dom Capers was so high on his crop of young players. Hayward and Jennings each picked off Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who finished with a quarterback rating of just 54.0 on 17-of-39 passing for 266 yards and just one touchdown.

Hayward’s interception probably kept points off the board late in the second quarter.

Jennings’ put points on it in the third quarter.

He returned his interception 72 yards for a touchdown that gave the Packers a 14-10 lead with 8:31 left in the third quarter.

In between, Moses, who started in place of Matthews at right outside linebacker, stripped Stafford after Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers gave the ball back to Detroit with an interception of his own two plays after Hayward’s takeaway. Rookie defensive tackle Mike Daniels recovered Stafford’s fumble in the finale minute of the first half.

“Our defense has got to have a lot of confidence, and that’s important to move forward,” Rodgers said. “You’ve got to have a defense that’s playing at a championship level if you want to make a run this time of year. Today, it was that. To slow down an offense with that quarterback, the arsenal that he has, to make ’em kind of one-dimensional, to make some plays in the secondary was huge. Can’t say enough about the young guys really growing up.”

How long those so-called young guys can hold things together until Matthews and safety Charles Woodson — who has missed the last three games because of a broken collarbone — remains to be seen. But on Sunday, it was a much-needed performance, especially considering the offense wasn’t putting up big points and kicker Mason Crosby’s struggles continued.

Though Detroit’s stud receiver Calvin Johnson did his share of damage with five catches for 143 yards, including the 25-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter that gave the Lions a 17-14 lead, the Packers made Stafford look bad. They sacked him five times, including two by left outside linebacker Erik Walden, who has continued to show why he’s having his best NFL season. Moses, safety Morgan Burnett and backup cornerback Davon House had the others. In all, the Packers were credited with hitting Stafford seven times.

When they weren’t knocking him down or applying pressure, the Packers took advantage of Stafford’s inaccuracies. He threw behind tight end Tony Scheffler on the ball Jennings picked off. All Scheffler could to was reach behind him but in doing so, he tipped the ball right to Jennings, who took off running down the right sideline.

“Coach always tells us to go through the man to the ball, and I was getting ready to do that,” said Jennings, who started in place of Woodson at strong safety. “I took an angle to the man, so I could be in position to make the tackle, and I saw that it was tipped so I just reacted to it.”

Hayward, who increased his team interceptions lead to five, played a cat-and-mouse game with Stafford to get his turnover. Hayward was to cover tight end Brandon Pettigrew but when Pettigrew stayed in to block, Hayward dropped into zone coverage. Stafford never saw him as he wound up to throw a shallow cross to Titus Young.

“They’re huge,” Hayward said of the forced turnovers. “Most of the time whoever wins the turnover battle normally wins, especially when it’s a division game and a close game.”

The Packers’ biggest defensive gaffe was on Johnson’s touchdown. Burnett tried to undercut the route and went for the interception but whiffed when the ball was thrown behind Johnson.

“I should’ve picked that off,” Burnett said.

Back in the hallway outside the locker room, there was Matthews still trying to be self-deprecating. But deep down, surely he knew what kind of performance it was for the defense to win without him.

“We’ve got a number of guys who are out right now who are itching to come back any week now,” Matthews said. “So we’re looking forward to that.”